Nimitz Class Carrier
Background The Nimitz-class supercarriers are a class of ten nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service with the United States Navy. The lead ship of the class is named for World War II United States Pacific Fleet commander Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the U.S. Navy's last fleet admiral. With an overall length of 1,092 ft (333 m) and full-load displacements of over 100,000 long tons, they have been the largest warships built and in service, although they are being eclipsed by the upcoming Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers. Instead of the gas turbines or diesel-electric systems used for propulsion on many modern warships, the carriers use two A4W pressurized water reactors which drive four propeller shafts and can produce a maximum speed of over 30 knots (56 km/h) and maximum power of around 260,000 shp (190 MW). As a result of the use of nuclear power, the ships are capable of operating for over 20 years without refueling and are predicted to have a service life of over 50 years. They are categorized as nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and are numbered with consecutive hull numbers between CVN-68 and CVN-77. All ten carriers were constructed by Newport News Shipbuilding Company in Virginia. USS Nimitz, the lead ship of the class, was commissioned on 3 May 1975, and USS George H.W. Bush, the tenth and last of the class, was commissioned on 10 January 2009. Since the 1970s, Nimitz-class carriers have participated in many conflicts and operations across the world, including Operation Eagle Claw in Iran, the Gulf War, and more recently in Iraq and Afghanistan. The angled flight decks of the carriers use a CATOBAR arrangement to operate aircraft, with steam catapults and arrestor wires for launch and recovery. As well as speeding up flight deck operations, this allows for a much wider variety of aircraft than with the STOVL arrangement used on smaller carriers. An embarked carrier air wing consisting of up to around 90 aircraft is normally deployed on board. After the retirement of the F-14 Tomcat, the air wings' strike fighters are primarily F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and F/A-18C Hornets. In addition to their aircraft, the vessels carry short-range defensive weaponry for anti-aircraft warfare and missile defense. Model Type - Aircraft Carrier Class - Nimits Class Carrier Crew - 3200+2480 airwing SDC By Location Main Hull 140 000 Hull per 40 ft 2 000 Island Tower 30 000 Flight Deck 60 000 Elevators 15 000 ea Drive Propeler 5 000 ea CIWS 1 000 ea Missile Launchers 1 500 ea Sensors Arrays 2 500 ea Aircraft Catapults 1 000 ea AR - 15 (vehicle AR) Armour - Stops upto and including standard 40mm rounds. Explosive and ramjet rounds are still effective. Speed Surface Speed - 56 kph Statistics Height - 41m overall top to bottom, 32m from the waterline Length - 332.8m overall, 317m at the waterline Width - 76.8m overall, 40.8m at the waterline Weight - 103 000 tons displacement Cargo - 1000s of tons Power System - 2 × Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors, 4 × steam turbines, 4 × shafts, 260,000 shp (194 MW), 20 year fuel capacity. Consumables last for upto a year, except fuel and aircraft consumables during combat operations that last only a month or less. Cost - 4.5 billion US dollars + 160 million annually to operate. Weapons Weapon Type - Sea Sparrow Launchers (3-4 depending on specific ship) Primary Purpose - Anti-aircraft Range - 15km Damage - 4d4x100sdc Rate Of Fire - 1 at a time per launcher Payload - 8 heavy H.E. Surface to Air missiles each Bonuses - na Weapon Type - CIWS 20mm gatling gun (3-4 depending on specific ship) Primary Purpose - anti-aircraft/missile Range - 2000m Damage - 6d6x10sdc per 20 round burst Rate Of Fire - 5 per melee Payload - 80 bursts each Bonuses - na Weapon Type - Rolling Airframe Missiles (2) Primary Purpose - Anti-aircraft Range - 8km Damage - 2d4x100sdc Rate Of Fire - 1 per Payload - 21 light H.E. Surface to Air missiles each Bonuses - na Bonuses and Penalties +2 strike with weapon systems Cannot dodge Systems of Note Aircraft - 85 total, F/A-18C/D Hornet / F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, EA-6B Prowler, E-2 Hawkeye, C-2 Greyhound, SH/HH-60 Seahawk, and T-45 Goshawk Radar - Range - 500 miles (800km), +10% Read Sensory Equipment, +1 initiative. Track 72 targets, display 48 and lock onto 12. EW Equipment - -10% to opposing read sensory equipment skill rolls, -2 to be hit by torpedoes, -1 to be hit by missiles Radar - Range of 200 miles (370km). Able to track upto 24 targets, display 18 targets and lock onto 6 targets at once. Radar Warning Receiver - Warns of potential Radar Lock. Range - 500 miles Targeting Computer - +2 to strike with all on board weapon systems Combat Computer - Identifies Friend or Foe and is tied to the radar System. FLIR - Advanced forward looking infa-red system for night operations GPS/Inertial Navigation System. Communications Array - Range of 3000km but can be boosted indefintiely via satellite uplink References Used Wikipedia Encyclopedia of Modern Warcraft